Griswold man inverts U.S. flag in protest of shutdown

GRISWOLD — When Griswold resident Dave Bogle got up Thursday morning, he knew he had to take a stand.

Bogle, a Vietnam veteran, is so furious with the way veterans and their families are being treated during the U.S. government shutdown that he threw caution to the wind to get his message across.

While he knew it might upset neighbors and passersby, Bogle, who served from 1968 to 1969 in the 4th Infantry Divison of the United States Army, pulled down the American flag flapping gallantly in the breeze in his front yard and raised it again — upside-down — as a signal of distress.

“It’s the only way I know I can protest the things that are going on in the government today,” Bogle said. “They are interfering with veterans, and I take that seriously.”

Some fellow veterans agree with him.

“He’s right,” said Robert Barbeau, of Griswold, who also served in the 4th Infantry Division during the Vietnam War. “To me (the system) is upside-down. The families have suffered enough because these people are idiots.”

Indeed, even those who have fought and died for their country have not been immune to the shutdown.

The bodies of 17 soldiers killed in combat in Afghanistan recently returned home in coffins draped with the American flag, but the shutdown has cut off death benefits to their families.

“These are kids laying their life on the line for their country,” Bogle said. “Everybody who goes into the military believes the government is going to stand behind them and back them and take care of their families. That’s part of the agreement when you agree to go into the military.”

The government shut down for the first time in 17 years at midnight Sept. 30 when Congress failed to reach a budget deal by its deadline.

Bogle, who has been closely following the impact of the shutdown, said commissaries used by the families of soldiers overseas are closed, as well as World War II and Vietnam memorials that were paid for by the national Veterans of Foreign Wars organization. Guards were hired to keep people off the memorial grounds.

If the shutdown continues into November, the veterans disability pay upon which Bogle and millions of others rely may be at risk, along with Social Security benefits.

Some 315,000 veterans and 202,000 surviving spouses would not receive pension payments, totaling $6 billion in benefits to 5 million veterans and families.

What’s more, Bogle said, he’s frustrated with voter apathy.

“I hear a lot of people talking about these issues, but election after election, the same people get in, and the voter turnout is always low.”

Bogle said he will continue to fly his flag upside down as a signal of distress until he feels the country is back on track and taking care of its citizens.

“I applaud him,” said Army veteran Eddie Banas, who served in Vietnam as a military policeman. “He’s so frustrated, and he wanted to do something, and he did it. He’s certainly entitled to his feelings. He served his country.”

Bogle encourages others, especially veterans, to do what he’s done and said he plans to call his veteran friends around the country urging them to follow suit.

“Everybody ought to take a good look in the mirror and see where they stand,” Bogle said. “Anyone who really gives a damn, that has a flag, ought to turn it upside-down. We are on the verge of some very, very bad times.”

For Bogle, there was no choice, and he said he’s entitled to express his angst.

“It’s my house. I pay the taxes on my property, it’s my flagpole and I’ve earned the right to have an opinion. Make no mistake about it: I’m ashamed of our government.”